USA > Ohio > Allen County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 70
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 70
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taught school in Van Wert county nine years, was index clerk in the recorder's office at Van Wert, was deputy sheriff under Peter Shoe- maker, read law with Lewis & Blachley at Van Wert, and is now at Lima, Ohio, still pursuing the study of law. Mrs. Henry Young was called to the better land February 27, 1895, dying in the faith of the Baptist church, in which Mr. Young is a deacon. In politics Mr. Young is a democrat; he is a member of the grange, in which he has served as chaplain, and has been a school director six years, taking a deep interest in educational matters; he is an entirely self-made man from a busi- ness point of view, is upright in all his trans- actions, and has won the highest esteem of the citizens of the township.
RS. MARY M. YOUNG, widow of John C. Young, was born in Clin- ton county, Ohio, January 4, 1842. She is a daughter of Jonah M. and Sarah (Stokesberry) Matthew, both natives of Culpeper county, Va., and respectively of Welsh and English ancestry. Both came with their parents to Ohio about 1812. The par- ents of each pre-empted land frem the govern- ment in Clinton county, and as soon as their families were comfortably settled in their new homes, the male head of each volunteered for service in the war with England then going on. but before they had seen much service peace was declared, and they returned to their homes. Jonah Matthew died in 1865, at the age of seventy-two, and his wife died in IS90 at the age of eighty-eight years. Both were mem- bers of the Christian church and were the best of people, kind-hearted neighbors, and loving parents.
Mrs. Young resided in Clinton county un- til I891, when she removed to Van Wert county, and there made her home with her
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brother, Eli Matthew, a prominent farmer of Pleasant township, until February, 1895. She then removed to the city of Van Wert, hav- ing built for herself a pleasant house with modern conveniences in Oak Grove, a suburb of the city. Mrs. Young is a faithful member of and regular attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, has for thirty years been a Sunday-school teacher, and is also a member of the Daughters of Rebekah. In every way she is a most estimable woman, and enjoy's the highest respect of all her neighbors and friends.
John C. Young, deceased husband of Mrs. Mary M. Young, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1832. He was a son of John Young and Hannah (Newcomb) Young, natives re- spectively of Virginia and Maryland. John Young moved to Clinton county with his par- ents about 1812, they settling on land which Mr. Young had pre-empted from the govern- ment. He was by occupation a farmer, and followed that honorable calling until his death, which occurred in 1862. Hannah Newcomb, his wife, was a daughter of William Newcomb, a pioneer Baptist minister and school-teacher. She and Mr. Newcomb were married about 1823, and she died in 1881, a woman of high character and noble deeds.
John C. Young remained on the farm with his parents until the breaking out of the war, when, in September, 1861, he enlisted in com- pany B, Fortieth regiment, Ohio volunteer in- fantry. This regiment entered almost imine- diately into active service, and participated in some of the hardest-fought and most import- ant battles of the war. Among these battles were that of Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Gettysburg. the battle of Chickamauga, of Lookout Mountain, and Chattanooga. It was also in the campaign of Nashville, and took part in the last battle of Nashville. In 1862 Mr. Young was sent home
on furlough on account of an attack of ty- phoid pneumonia, and at the end of five weeks he had so far recovered as to be able to return to his regiment, and he served then the rest of his term of enlistment, which was for three years. He was honorably discharged in Sep- tember, 1864, and then returned to his home. A brother of Mr. Young was a victim of the horrors of Andersonville, dying a short time after his release from the effects of privations experienced during his imprisonment there.
After Mr. Young wrs discharged from the army he suffered another severe illness, having contracted heart disease and lung disease while in the army. He was married October 17. 1867, to Miss Mary M. Matthew, and immedi- ately afterward gave up the active management of the farm, and with his wife located in Cen- terville, near his farm, where he lived until his death, which occurred December 26, 1879. Mr. Young was a member of the order of Odd Fellows, and in religion he was a Methodist. In politics he was a democrat until the war came on, and then perceiving that too many members of that party were pursuing a course inimical to the success of the government in the suppression of the Rebellion, he became a republican, remaining a republican the rest of his life. But whether a democrat or republi- can, Mr. Young was always equally patriotic, and always labored for the good of his coun- try. At his death he left his widow in com- fortable circumstances, and a memory dear to all his relatives and friends. There were no children born to Mr. and Mrs. Young.
ILLIAM H. ZIMMERMAN, a re- tired farmer and merchant of Con- voy, Van Wert county, Ohio, and an ex-soldier, was born in Colum- biana county, Ohio, August 26. 1839, a son of Israel and Margaret (Smith) Zimmerman. The
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father, Israel, was a son of Henry. of Pennsyl- vania and a pioneer of Columbiana county. Israel had born to him four children, who were named William H., James S., Philip M. and Ramsey L., all of whom were born in Columbiana county, Ohio, excepting Ramsey L., who is a native of Van Wert county, in Pleasant township of which county the father settled in about 1852, having entered forty- eight and one-half acres in the wild woods some years previously, and to which he sub- sequently added forty-eight and one-half acres by purchase, but died two years after his arrival at about forty-one years of age.
William H. Zimmerman was reared on the farm above alluded to from his fourteenth year until he enlisted, at Van Wert, December 9, 1861, in company K, Forty-sixth Ohio volun- teer infantry, to serve three years or during the war, but was honorably discharged, July I, 1862, at Columbus, Ohio, on account of wounds received at the battle of Shiloh, other- wise known as Pittsburg Landing, which took place in April. In this desperate struggle he was struck by a rifle-ball in the left elbow, the effects of which are still an annoyance to him. January 15, 1865, he married Cather- ine Weisman, daughter of Joel and Sarah (Troup) Weisman, the former of whom came from Perry county, Ohio, and was an old set- tler of Van Wert county. He was the father of seven children, who were named Noah, Catherine, Elizabeth (died at thirteen years of age), Benjamin F., William A., Lydia M. and P. M. Noah Weisman, brother of Mrs. Zim- merman, served in the same company, during the Civil war, with her husband, and about the sanie length of time.
After marriage Mr. Zimmerman lived on the home farin two years and then bought forty acres in Harrison township, but later sold and bought two farms in Tully township, consisting, respectively, of fifty-eight and forty
acres, which he brought into a high state of cultivation and resided upon until his removal, in March, 1870, to Convoy. Here, for three and one-half years he was engaged in the saw- mill business, then in the grocery trade, and then in tile manufacturing. He also ran the elevator in company with A. B. Penny, and since the last manifestation of his business energy has devoted his attention to the care of his farm and minor enterprises. Mr. Zimmer- man is quite a hunter, and in his recreations in this particular has visited on several occasions the northern parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, and has in his possession the head and antlers of a splendid buck as an evidence of his skill and prowess. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman are Presbyterians in their religious belief. Frater- nally he is a member of Convoy lodge, I. O. O. F., in which he has held all the offices. including that of noble grand. In politics he is a democrat, and has been town treasurer, township treasurer, councilman, township trus- tee and justice of the peace. In 1889 he bought his present pleasant home in Convoy, where he has since been residing in the en- joyment of the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. The successful career of Mr. Zimmerman furnishes a bright example for the emulation of the younger members of the com- munity who have yet to make their fortunes through their own industry.
J ACOB S. ZOOK, a prominent and heavy contractor and builder of Van Wert, Ohio, was born in Wayne coun- ty, in the same state, April 5. 1838. a son of Daniel and Nancy (Steel) Zook, the former of whom was born in Cumberland county, Pa., but who came with his parents to Wayne county when but eighteen years of age. Nancy Steel was also a native of Pennsyi- vania, and was a mere child when brought to
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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.
Ohio; her parents being among the first fami- lies to locate in Wayne county. Daniel and Nancy grew to man and womanhood near . Wooster, Wayne county, and were married there in 1834. Daniel, after marriage, im- mediately engaged in farming in Wayne coun- ty, and there remained until IS41, when he moved his little family to Crawford county, farined there a year, and then moved to the west of Bucyrus, Crawford county, where he made his home until IS51; he then moved to Wyandot county, where he had entered forty acres of wild land, and there cleared up the the farm on which he died in 1854. To Dan- iel and Nancy Zook were born six children, in the following order: Mary A., deceased; Jacob S., our subject; Amanda E., wife of D. Peter- - son, of Ada, Ohio; John W. and William N., deceased, and Dennis C., a railroad man of Valparaiso, Ind. In 1856, Mrs. Nancy Zook was married to Goodwin Hall, who is now also deceased, and in ISSS she herself died, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Jacob S. Zook was about six years of age when taken to Crawford county, and about thirteen years old when taken to Wyandot county, where he made his home until 1856, when, at the age of about seventeen, he went to Oceola, Crawford county, where he served an apprenticeship of three years at the car- penter's trade with John Dome. The next four years he worked in partnership with Mr. Dome, and then went to Nevada, Ohio, and began contracting on his own account, following his vocation there until 1873, when he came to Van Wert, as afford- ing a wider scope for the exercise of his now fully ripened genius and perfected skill. He at first here formed a partnership with E. W. Wilson, which connection was maintained for four years, at the expiration of which time Mr. Zook continued in business on his sole account. Mr. Zook has erected, in
Van Wert, the Hotel Marsh, the Methodist Episcopal church, the City building, the North (Second ward) school-house, several large busi- ness blocks and a number of the better class of dwellings, and also built in ISS; the machine shop and round house for Ohio division of the C., J. & M. railroad. He owns his own fine residence on South Washington street, and at the rear end of his lot has a building devoted to the manufacture of screen doors, window frames and the lighter work pertaining to car- pentry. He also owns 120 acres of land in Pleasant township, Van Wert county, and Mrs. Zook is the owner of eighty acres in Ingham county, Mich. He is also a stock- holder in the Van Wert National bank, and is a member of its board of directors.
The marriage of Mr. Zook took place in Oceola, Crawford county, Ohio, January 12, 1862, to Miss Amanda E. Barrick, who was born in Crawford county, July 20, IS39, a daughter of John and Jane Barrick, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Zook is a republican, and as such has served in the city council two years. Fraternally he is a knight templar Mason. As a business man he is un- excelled, and his social standing is among the best citizens of Van Wert. As Mr. and Mrs. Zook have no children of their own, they have recently taken Frank Bennett, who was born in Vermont in October, 1886.
ACHARIAH STEWART, a practical and progressive farmer of Washing- ton township, Van Wert county, Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye state and was born in Fairfield county, August 15, 1840. His father, also named Zachariah, was born in Ireland, and came to America while still a young man. He located first in Fair- field county, Ohio, and there married a lady
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry, and later came to Van Wert county and settled on the land in Washington township now occupied by his son Joseph, and here died at the age of about sixty years.
Zachariah Stewart, whose name opens this sketch, was but a small boy when brought to Van Wert county by his father. Reared on a pioneer farm he had but few opportunities for schooling, but by self-exertion attained suffi- cient knowledge for the prosecution of the ordinary business of life. In 1862, at Lima, Ohio, he enlisted in company H, Fifteenth .Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years or during the war, but his actual service com- prised but eighteen months-nine months , under his enlistment, being them honorably ·discharged on account of sickness; later on he was drafted, and after another experience .of nine months of ariny life, was again dis- ·charged for the same cause. He took part, however, in the siege of Nashville, was in many skirmishes and did a great deal of hard marching. He was confined in hospital at Louisville, Ky., with chronic diarrhea, and was also stricken with measles during his service, and came very near death, and was so badly disabled by disease in doing his duty to his country that he has been granted a pension . . of $10 per month by the government. Mr. Stewart is now the owner of a good farm of forty acres, which he has cleared up from the woods of Washington township, from which che is deriving a fair income and on which he makes his home. He is an upright, hard- working inan and is respected by all who know him, and in politics he is a democrat.
A. J. Stewart, a brother of Zachariah, our subject, also enlisted in company H, Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years, then veteranized, and served until the close of the wat -- taking part in many battles and doing the full duty of a soldier. He is now a promi-
nent citizen of Jackson township, Van Wert county, and at one time served as infirmary director.
S IMEON A. JACKSON is a native of York township, Van Wert county, Ohio, and was born on the farm now owned and occupied by him, Febru- ary 8, 1843. His parents, Ferdinand and Charity (Mortimore) Jackson, were natives re- spectively of Madison county, Ohio, and North Carolina. By his first marriage Ferdi- nand Jackson became the father of four chil- dren, viz: John M., a resident of York town- ship; Sarah, who died in childhood; Thomas, who died in infancy, Simeon A., and James, a resident of Van Wert county. The father died in the spring of 1849, and Mrs. Jackson was again married and became the mother of the following children: Robert and Jacob, twins; William, deceased; David, who re- sides in Van Wert county. The mother died April 4, 1891. Ferdinand Jackson, al- though a farmer, worked at chair-making in the winter time.
Simeon A. Jackson, our subject, spent his youth on the home farm, and at the age of ninteen years enlisted in company A, Ninety- ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, the date of his enlistment being August 6, 1862, and the term of his enlistment being three years. He was in the battles of Stone River, Chickamuaga, and eleven other of the hard-fought engage- ments; after being mustered out at the close of the war he returned to his home, and No- vember 11, 1867, was united in wedlock with Rebecca Hayes, a daughter of Jackson and Eliza (Hichner) Hayes, residents of Mercer county, Ohio-the former a native of Fayette county. Ohio, and the latter of New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were born the follow- ing children: Laban, a resident of Mercer
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county; Orlando, who grew to manhood, but is now deceased; Sheldon, who was a soldier in company A, Forty-sixth Ohio volunteer in- fantry, and died while in service from disease; Morton, who died in early manhood; Mrs. Jackson; Melissa, the deceased wife of Will- iam Krugh; Ella, deceased wife of Augustus Frisingter; Orelso, who died when twelve years of age. The mother of these children died when Mrs. Jackson was but eight years of age, and the father next married the widow Green, who bore him one daughter, May, the wife of Lincoln Scott, of Celina, Ohio. Mrs. Jackson's father died in May, 1879. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were named-Willis, at home; Sarah, wife of Charles Brown, of Mercer county; Minnie, school-teacher; Oscar, Eliza, Otis, and Foster. Mr. Jackson owns a neat homestead of forty acres, and also another tract of thirty-three acres in York township. Mrs. Jrckson is a pious member of the Methodist church, and in politics Mr. Jackson is a stalwart republican. He and family are highly respected by their neighbors and Mr. Jackson is looked upon as one of the most public-spirited citizens of York township.
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ILEY M. KEAR, an extensive real estate dealer and money broker of Van Wert, Ohio, was born in that village April 22, 1851, and is a son of Thomas Reed and Catherine (Frisinger) Kear.
Thomas Reed Kear was born in Maryland April 26, 1806, and during his early youthful days was a sailor on the ocean. Some time prior to the attainment of his majority he re- moved to Licking county, Ohio, to which county his parents had preceded him, and there he lived on a farm near Jacksontown, in the meantime learning the carpenter trade.
He afterward moved to Champaign county, Ohio. Here, April 29, 1829, he married. Cath- erine Frisinger, who was born in Virginia April 12, 1812, and by whom he had ten chil- dren, as follows: Mary M., wife of Jackson Pence, and now living in Willshire township; John J., of Van Wert county; Amelia C., de- ceased; Lydia A., of Petersburg, Ill .; Amanda A., of Van Wert; Benjamin F., who died in Oklahoma; Sarah E., who died in Buchanan county, Iowa; Robert T., who died in Van Wert; Wiley M., the subject of this sketch, and Elsie A., deceased.
Removing to Van Wert county in 1835, Mr. Kear settled in Willshire township, where he was employed mainly as- a cabinet-maker and as a carpenter until 1843, when he re- moved to Van Wert, which place at that time contained-only eleven families. As a democrat Mr. Kear served as a deputy under the first sheriff of Van Wert county, was afterward himself elected sheriff, and served as public crier for many years. His death occurred May II, 1864, his widow dying in Van Wert No- vember 1, 1895, at the age of eighty-three years, six months and nineteen days. She was converted at a camp meeting in Urbana, Ohio, in 1830, united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a member of the first Meth- odist class in Van Wert county, which met in the house of Richard Pring, in Willshire town- ship, Mr. Pring having been the organizer and leader of the class and being an exhorter of no mean ability. She joined this class in 1836. Her sisters, of whom she had several, lived most of their lives in Champaign county, Ohio, and inany of their descendants now reside in that county. Her brothers were among the early settlers of Van Wert and Mercer coun- ties, Ohio, and were named William, Jacob, John, Peter and Noah Frisinger.
Peter Frisinger, the father of Mrs. Kear, died during the war of 1812, while fighting the
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
battles of his country, and was buried at Nor- folk, Va. His wife was a Miss Worley, and several of her nephews and nieces lived near Eaton, Preble county, Ohio.
Thomas Reed Kear had two brothers, John Reed and William Reed, the former of whom died while a young man, in Champaign county, and the latter of whom was last heard from as living in Syracuse, Nebr. He also had three sisters, -Mary Ann, who married Richard Pring, and removed to Polk county, Iowa; Eleanor, who married John Pring, a brother of Richard, and removed to Fort Wayne, Ind., and Amelia R., who married Frederick Baylor, and removed to Wayne county, Iowa.
Following are the names of some of the descendants of these three sisters: Harriet R. Deyve, of Princeton, Mo .; Mary J. Deyve, of Ravanna, Mo .; Margaret Eby and Fanny Fry, of Great Bend, Kan. ; Thomas Pring, of Allerton, Wayne county, Iowa; Jerry Pring, of Adams, Adair county, Iowa; Amelia Whittaker, of Oakley, Kan .; Margaret McCleary, of Dexter, Iowa; Jane Adams, Ethel (Pring) Stewart, and George W. Pring, all three of Adair county, Iowa; Emma Trummel, of Nebraska; Mary Woodrow, of Rock Falls, Iowa; Nellie Whit- taker, of Oakley, Kan .; James Pring, of Cedar- ville, Ind., and Maggie Cornell, of Kirksville, Missouri.
Thomas Reed Kear was a son of John Cears, who married Eleanor Reed, in or near Baltimore. She had three brothers, viz: Will- iam, John and Thomas, all of who lived in Baltimore or the vicinity. John Cears was a ship-builder and a sailor. and somewhat late in life removed to Licking county, Ohio. Of his two sisters, Nancy married a Mr. Pussely, and lived at Zanesville, Ohio, and Mary married a Mr. Basiel or Bassil, and lived in Licking county. The father of John Cears canie from England prior to the Revolutionary war, and established a large ship-building yard
in Maryland, which he conducted profitably until the breaking out of that war, when all his property was confiscated.
Wiley M. Kear, after the death of his father, worked in a stave factory for two years, and then removed to Plymouth, Ind., where he worked on a farm during the summer season and attended school during the winter. working for his board. Returning to Van Wert.he was for three years engaged in a stave factory eight months in the year and attended school four months. For some time afterward he was engaged in various kinds of farm work, and having attained his majority he went to Brandon, Iowa, and there was engaged in farm labor until 1873. Returning to Van Wert he worked for some years in a saw-mill, at general teaming and school teaching in winters, at the same time laying out the plat of Kear's addition to Van Wert, selling lots, and building a home for his mother. In 1879 he accepted a position as deputy recorder of Van Wert county, under 'his brother-in-law, W. P. Wolcott, and while in this position be- gan loaning money, thus laying the foundation of his present extensive and profitable business, and in 1883, at the expiration of his term as deputy recorder, he opened his present office. at the corner of Main and Washington streets, Van Wert.
Mr. Kear was married June 17, 1879, at Brandon, Iowa, to Miss Malinda Romig, who was born in Wisconsin, October 14, 1853, and to this marriage there have been born seven children, as follows: Carleton R .: Helen L .: Georgiana M .; Roy Donald; Paul Winfred; Harry Alexander; and Thomas W., deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kear are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mr. Kear is an Odd Fellow, and a republican, and bears a fine reputation as a successful and ' honorable business man. Mrs. Kear removed with her parents from Wisconsin to Brandon, Iowa,
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and resided there until her marriage. Her father, Isaac Romig, was a merchant at that place. He was born in Lehigh county, Pa., March 26, 1814, and married Mrs. Elizabeth Young, who was born in Northumberland county, Pa., August 8, 1823, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Richey) Williamson, the marriage taking place March 13, 1842. To this marriage there have been born seven chil- dren, as follows: Henry H., who died at Memphis, Tenn., May 21, 1864, from the effects of a musket-ball wound in the hand; Harriet D., wife of H. S. Van Buren, of Brandon, Iowa; Mary Ann, wife of Henry Fouts, of Brandon, Iowa; James M., who married Sarah L. Newcomb, and lives at Independence, Iowa; Benjamin, who died when a child; Malinda, wife of the subject of this sketch; Clara Marilie, wife of A. T. Mc- Donald, of Independence, Iowa. All seven of the above-named children were born in the state of Wisconsin.
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H. SHORB, fish and game commis- sioner of the state of Ohio, was born in Canton, Ohio, June 3, 1837. He is a son of John Shorb, who was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1796. John Shorb was brought by his parents to Ohio in 1802, they settling in Stark county. In Canton, Ohio, Mr. Shorb was a man of considerable promi- nence. He was a miller, a banker, and for some years was mayor of the city of Canton. This was in an early day. During the war of 1812 -- 15 he was a patriot, enlisting in that war and serving his country faithfully during his term of service. In this, however, he was but following in the footsteps of his father, who was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Miss Margaret Stegger, who was a native of Uniontown, Pa., and who died in Canton, Ohio, in 1875. Her father, like her
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